Timeline: Kliff Kingsbury's six-year tenure as Texas Tech head coach
From his hiring to his dismissal, here's how Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury era unfolded.
2012
Dec. 8: Former Red Raider head coach Tommy Tuberville informs Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt that he’s leaving for the same position at Cincinnati.
Dec. 12: Hocutt announces the hire of Texas A&M offensive coordinator and former Red Raider quarterback Kliff Kingsbury via Twitter in a short video.
Dec. 14: Kingsbury arrives in Lubbock for his introductory press conference at the United Supermarkets Arena.
Dec. 28: Texas Tech beats Minnesota in the Meineke Car Care Bowl under interim head coach Chris Thomsen. Kingsbury was in attendance.
2013
Jan. 13: Texas Tech announces the hire of Matt Wallerstedt as defensive coordinator. Wallerstedt was on Texas A&M's staff with Kingsbury in 2012. Prior to his time in College Station, Wallerstedt ran the defense at Air Force, North Alabama and Wyoming.
April 22: Three-star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, out of Whitehouse, commits to Texas Tech over offers from Houston and Rice.
Aug. 30: Kingsbury makes his debut as Texas Tech's head coach with a 41-23 win over SMU, behind the arm of true freshman walk-on quarterback Baker Mayfield.
Oct. 5: Mayfield, who won his first five starts of the season, suffers a leg injury against Kansas and is replaced by true freshman Davis Webb.
Oct. 12: Webb gets his first start of the season against Iowa State with the Red Raiders ranked at No. 20 in the AP Top 25. He completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 415 yards, three touchdowns and one interception in Texas Tech's 42-35 win.
Oct. 26: No. 10 Texas Tech suffers its first loss of the season, 38-30 to No. 15 Oklahoma.
Nov. 16: Mayfield returns to action after missing four games, replacing Webb midway through the team's 49-26 home loss to Kansas State. He would start the Red Raiders' final two games of the season, a 63-34 decision to No. 5 Baylor and a 41-16 rout to Texas.
Dec. 11: Mayfield announces his intention to leave Texas Tech's football program and seek a transfer.
Dec. 16: Texas Tech co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie confirms that he is leaving Kingsbury's staff to coach quarterbacks and coordinate Gary Patterson's offense at TCU.
Dec. 30: The Red Raiders upset No. 14 Arizona State 37-23 in the Holiday Bowl and finish the season 8-5. All-American tight end Jace Amaro, who caught 106 passes for 1,352 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior, announces after the game that he planned to forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL Draft.
2014
March 7: Jarrett Stidham, ranked at the time as the top dual-threat quarterback in the 2015 class, commits to Texas Tech.
Sept. 13: Arkansas rushes for 438 yards and seven touchdowns in a 49-28 rout of Texas Tech in Lubbock.
Sept. 18: Wallerstedt is forced out as defensive coordinator after being suspected of being under the influence of an unknown substance while on campus. Mike Smith is promoted to interim defensive coordinator.
Sept. 25: Webb is injured in the fourth quarter of a 45-35 loss to Oklahoma State. His backup, Mahomes, takes his first collegiate snaps and goes 2-of-5 for 20 yards and one interception in relief.
Oct. 25: Texas Tech drops to 3-5 overall, 1-4 in the Big 12 with an ignominious 82-27 loss to TCU. Webb sustains an injury in Fort Worth that will sideline him for the rest of the season.
Nov. 1: Mahomes gets his first career start at home against Texas, but is knocked out in the first half. Texas Tech loses 34-13 and falls to 3-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12.
Nov. 29: Mahomes sets a Big 12 freshman record with 598 passing yards, six touchdowns and one interception in the Red Raiders' 48-46 loss to No. 7 Baylor. Texas Tech finishes the season 4-8, the most losses in a single season in more than 30 years.
Dec. 1: Kingsbury announces that Mike Smith, defensive backs coach Kevin Curtis and outside linebackers coach Trey Haverty would not return for the 2015 season.
Dec. 13: Stidham announces his decommitment from Texas Tech.
2015
Jan. 5: Houston defensive coordinator David Gibbs is hired to run the Red Raiders' defense.
Sept. 19: Behind the arm of Mahomes and the legs of running back DeAndre Washington, the Red Raiders beat the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, 35-24.
Sept. 26: No. 3 TCU escapes Lubbock with a 55-52 win thanks to a last-minute batted ball touchdown catch in the endzone.
Nov. 26: The 6-5 Red Raiders win in Austin for the first time in 1997, beating Texas 48-45. Jakeem Grant scores on a play called “little people big world.” Texas Tech finishes the season in a three-way tie for fifth-place in the Big 12.
Dec. 9: Bowling Green hires running backs coach Mike Jinks to be its head football coach.
Dec. 29: Leonard Fournette and the LSU Tigers run over the Red Raiders in the Texas Bowl. Texas Tech finishes the season 7-6.
Dec. 30: Webb announces his intention to transfer for his final season of eligibility.
2016
Jan. 20: Texas Tech announces the hire of defensive line coach Kevin Patrick, which comes on the heels of the program hiring special teams coordinator Joe Robinson, wide receivers coach Emmett Jones and running backs coach Jabbar Juluke.
Feb. 13: Juluke, a Louisiana native, leaves Texas Tech for a position on Les Miles' staff at LSU. He is eventually replaced in March by DeShaun Foster.
May 5: Texas Tech dismisses three players, including linebacker Dakota Allen, from the team following their involvement in a home burglary in Lubbock.
Sept. 10: Arizona State running back Kalen Ballage scores eight touchdowns in the Sun Devils' 68-55 win over Texas Tech.
Sept. 21: Quarterback Jett Duffey is suspended for spring and summer semesters by a Title IX panel.
Sept. 29: Texas Tech grabs its first conference win of the year over Kansas. Mahomes is knocked out of the game with an injury and is replaced by Iowa transfer Nic Shimonek. Shimonek completes 15-of-21 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns in relief.
Oct. 26: Mahomes accounts for an NCAA record 819 yards of offense - 734 passing, 85 rushing - and seven total touchdowns in Texas Tech's 66-59 loss to Oklahoma.
Oct. 29: Texas Tech snaps a three-game losing streak with a 27-24 double overtime win at TCU.
Nov. 12: The Red Raiders miss a potential game-tying PAT with 1:39 left to play and lose 45-44 to No. 17 Oklahoma State in Stillwater.
Nov. 19: Iowa State routs Texas Tech 66-10. The Red Raiders fall to 4-7 on the season.
Nov. 25: Texas Tech closes out the season with a 54-35 win over Baylor in Arlington. The Red Raiders finish the year with the sixth-best offense and worst defense in the FBS.
Nov. 27: Amid growing speculation about Kingsbury's job security, Hocutt holds a press conference and confirms that Kingsbury would return for the 2017 season.
Dec. 17: Allen, who landed at East Mississippi Community College following his dismissal, commits to return to the Red Raiders.
2017
Jan. 3: Mahomes declares for the NFL Draft, forgoing his senior season, leaving Shimonek as the designated day one starting quarterback for 2017.
Feb. 7: Juluke returns to the Red Raider coaching staff as the running backs coach following the departure of Foster.
April 1: Texas Tech plays its spring game at The Star in Frisco, Texas, becoming the first college football program to hold an event at the Dallas Cowboys' facility.
April 27: Mahomes is selected with the No. 10 overall pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL Draft.
June 14: Three-star quarterback Alan Bowman commits to Texas Tech.
Aug. 24: Duffey rejoins the team after serving his Title IX suspension.
Sept. 23: Texas Tech ends Houston's 16-game home winning streak with a 27-24 win.
Oct. 7: The Red Raiders defeats Kansas in Lawrence, 65-19, to push their record to 4-1.
Oct. 8: Texas Tech checks in at No. 24 in the AP Top 25, the program's first ranking since the 2013 season.
Oct. 14: The Red Raiders blow a 35-24-point fourth quarter lead in Morgantown. West Virginia scores 22-unanswered points in the final quarter to win the game, 46-35.
Nov. 11: Texas Tech snaps a four-game losing streak with a win over Baylor in Arlington, putting the team one win away from bowl eligibility.
Nov. 24: McLane Carter gets the start at Texas in place of a struggling Shimonek. Carter was benched in the second half and Shimonek led the Red Raiders back from a 10-point deficit to win the game, 27-23. Hocutt responds to speculation about Kingsbury's job status by announcing in the postgame press conference that Kingsbury would return for the 2018 season.
Dec. 23: South Florida scores with 16 seconds left and beats Texas Tech, 38-34, in the Birmingham Bowl. The Red Raiders finish the season 6-7.
Dec. 30: Eric Morris is hired as the head football coach at Incarnate Word.
2018
Jan. 1: Juluke leaves the Red Raiders for a spot on the Louisiana-Lafayette staff.
Jan. 30: Kingsbury hires Kevin Johns from Western Michigan to replace Morris.
Feb. 7: Former Red Raider fullback Clay McGuire joins the staff as co-offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He was serving as offensive line coach under Mike Leach at Washington State previously.
March 1: Kingsbury rounds out his coaching staff with the addition of Adam Scheier as the special teams coordinator.
Sept. 1: Carter opens the season as the Red Raiders' starting quarterback against Ole Miss. He suffers a high-ankle sprain in the first quarter, and Bowman comes in to finish the game. Texas Tech loses 47-27.
Sept. 8: Bowman becomes the fourth true freshman quarterback to start at Texas Tech under Kingsbury. The Red Raiders make quick work of Lamar and roll to a 77-0 win.
Sept. 15: Bowman throws for a Big 12 freshman record 605 yards and five touchdowns in Texas Tech's 63-45 win over Houston.
Sept. 22: The Red Raiders snap a nine-game losing streak to Oklahoma State by routing the No. 15 Cowboys 41-17 in Stillwater.
Sept. 23: Texas Tech is ranked No. 25 in the AP Top 25 following its win over Oklahoma State.
Sept. 29: Bowman suffers a partially collapsed lung in the first half in the Red Raiders' 42-34 loss to West Virginia. Duffey came in for relief of Bowman.
Oct. 11: Duffey starts in a 17-14 win over TCU in Fort Worth.
Oct. 20: Bowman returns from his lung injury against Kansas and leads the Red Raiders to a 48-16 win. He completes 36-of-46 passes for 408 yards, three touchdowns an an interception. Texas Tech is 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 12.
Oct. 27: Bowman turns the ball over three times in a 40-31 loss to Iowa State.
Nov. 3: Bowman re-aggravates his lung injury late in the first half of Texas Tech's game against Oklahoma. The Red Raiders keep it close in the second half, but the Sooners win, 51-46.
Nov. 10: Duffey turns the ball over three times in Texas Tech's 41-34 loss to Texas.
Nov. 17: The Red Raiders drop their fourth-straight game, losing to Kansas State, 21-6. Duffey, already hobbled by a knee injury, injures his foot in the first half.
Nov. 24: Texas Tech loses Baylor, 35-24. Carter starts for the first time since the season-opener, completing 21-of-37 passes for 247 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. The Red Raiders finish the season 5-7, their third-consecutive losing season.